tadepalligudem l wednesday l november 18, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION At brics meet, Modi targets Pak for sponsoring terror The PM said terrorism is the biggest global challenge today and countries supporting it must be dealt with an iron fist ‘Hold countries funding terrorism guilty’ Without naming Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “We must tackle the problem in an organised way and have to ensure the countries that support and assist the terrorists are also held guilty.” The summit was hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and attended by Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and XI Jinping of China | P7 ■ Xi India will emerge a force multiplier: pm ■ In his address, Modi underlined the need for reforming the United Nations Security Council as well as multilateral bodies like World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund Pitching the Atmanirbhar programme, Modi said a self-reliant India would prove to be a force multiplier in a post-Covid world Modi shared stage with the Chinese prez for the 2nd time in a week CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI SC pushes govt to frame norms on TV reportage Interview Raghuram Rajan Former RBI governor Stimulus yet to come, says rajan Chides Centre for skirting application of cable TV Act in affidavit on Tablighi case F ormer RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan believes the larger portion of the Centre’s fiscal response to the Covid-19 pandemic was just relief and not stimulus. Speaking with TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla and author and political analyst Shankkar Aiyar at a session of Express Expressions, a series of webcasts with people who matter, Rajan said such relief measures are vital to protect the country’s economic engine but real demand stimulus would be needed down the line. “The time for stimulus will come, when the economy picks up more strongly Right . now, we are some distance away from that,” he said. Rajan noted India’s fiscal position when the pandemic started was bad, which limited the headroom for what the government can do. He said India must concentrate on preparing to stimulate the economy through infrastructure development. “I would say that we should be preparing now for that massive expansion in infrastructure spending that we will need to lift the economy as we get rid of the virus,” he Q&A on: p10 said.  employed by you. This affidavit has nothing on it.” The Centre’s affidavit deThe Supreme Court on Tues- fended media reporting of the day gave the Centre a piece of Tablighi event, saying it was its mind for not filing a proper largely balanced and neutral, affidavit on the media report- adding “the media has made a age tying the Tablighi Jamaat clear distinction between the congregation in Delhi to organisers and attendees the Covid outbreak, of the Tablighi Jamaat and asked it to considevent and the larger er creating a regulaMuslim community tory mechanism for in general.” grievances against “First you did not fake news on TV . file a proper affidavit A bench headed by and then you filed an Chief Justice of India 743 orders affidavit which did to block S A Bobde faulted the not deal with the two i n f o r m a t i o n a n d fake news important questions. broadcasting minisThis way it cannot be The Centre’s try’s affidavit for not affidavit said it done Mr Mehta,” the dealing with the appli- had issued 743 bench said. cability of the Cable orders in April Emphasising that T V N e t wo rk A c t alone to block s e l f - r e g u l a t i o n (CTNA) in the case. fake news over through the NBSA When Solicitor Genwasn’t good enough, multiple eral Tushar Mehta, the bench wanted to platforms to appearing for the Cenknow if the Centre preserve tre, referred to the would create a legal communal News Broadcasters regulatory regime for harmony Standards Authority TV channels and slat(NBSA), a self-regulatory ed the next hearing after three mechanism set up by the sec- weeks. “We are not satisfied tor, the bench said: “Why with your reply We want to ... should we refer to NBSA when know what is the mechanism you have the authority to look to deal with these contents on into it? If it does not exist then television... Regulation canyou create an authority We not be left to organisations ... want to know the mechanism like NBSA,” the bench said. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Into the blue Tourists take a joy ride in an in APTDC boat on the river Godavari in Rajamahendravaram on Tuesday | Express Local body polls to be held in February: SEC E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada State Election Commissioner (SEC) Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on Tuesday said elections to gram panchayats will be held in February next year, and the schedule will be finalised after consultation with the State government. “The actual notification with the schedule will be duly notified only thereafter,” he said, adding that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) won’t BMJ report ‘Vizag among India’s best in early handling of coronavirus’ G Janardhana Rao @ Visakhapatnam The Visakhapatnam model has emerged as one of the best practices in urban settings in India with regard to Covid-19 management in constrained situations. As per a study conducted by BMJ Global Health across the country with data from the ICMR and Union Ministry of Health and reports from medical institutions and groups, Visakhapatnam innovation has been cited as an example of effective response to the pandemic. The study said that while the Centre facilitated combatting of the pandemic, States rapidly innovated, co-learnt, and coadopted various innovations. The BMJ (British Medical Jour- nal) is a weekly peerreviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union British Medical Association (BMA), and is one of the world’s oldest general medical journals. The report, which was published recently focussed on In, dia’s response during the initial days of the Covid-19 outbreak when there was poor availability of masks, sanitiser, PPE kits, oxygen support systems, ventilators, not many hospitals, and low awareness. The BMJ study identified certain best practices, of which, in urban settings, Visakhapatnam was recognised as one of the best practices. Engagement of the district administration with local medical colleges for patient care and surveillance helped in techno-administrative convergence with contextualisation and mobilisation of human reP5 sources, the survey said. come into force right now. “As per procedure and the Supreme Court’s orders, the MCC will come into effect four weeks prior to the announcement of actual dates,” he said. Ramesh Kumar, in a communication to the Chief Secretary Direc, tor General of Police, and others, requested the government to take preparatory steps to hold the elections in a “risk-free manner as well as freely and fairly”. “The health department, in particular, may study with a view to implement the best practices successfully adopted in the recent elections in the country and neighbouring State of Telangana in particular in case of GHMC elections,” Ramesh Kumar said. He, however, did not make any mention of resumption of the earlier notification issued by the Commission, indicating that it might issue a fresh notification for holding the polls. All major political parties, during the all-party meeting convened to elicit their views on the conduct of elections in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, wanted the SEC to issue a fresh notification, and alleged largescale irregularities in the process followed earlier with respect to filing of nominations and unanimous elections to P4 several local bodies. Worry over foreign fund deluge to Ngo-run homes S u m i S u k a n ya D u t ta @ New Delhi A random analysis of foreign contributions to over 600 shelter homes in the South has revealed that they received funding up to `6 lakh per child per year, much of which may not have been spent on kids at all. The analysis and a report based drafted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), has been sent to the Union Women and Child Development Ministry for further action. Most of the scrutinised shelter homes were in Tamil Nadu (274), Andhra Pradesh (145) and Kerala (107). Data accessed by this newspaper shows that Andhra Pradesh’s 145 shelter homes run by NGOs house 6,202 children. They cumulatively received over `409.5 crore as contributions from abroad in 2018-19 as per their own declaration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. making sense of the cash flow Foreign No of fund shelter State received homes analysed in 2018-19 Andhra Pradesh 145 `409.52 cr Telangana 67 `144.98 cr Kerala 107 `85.39 cr Karnataka 45 `66.62 cr Tamil Nadu 274 `248.09 cr “This works out to `6.6 lakh per child per year but obviously most of it is not being spent on children,” a senior NCPCR functionary said. “This is a serious issue that needs to be flagged and thoroughly investigated as social audit has revealed that inmates are struggling for even basic facilities in most shelter homes in Andhra and are even vulnerable to abuse.” In Telangana, annual foreign funding received per child was `3.88 lakh while it was in the `2 lakh-plus range in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala (see table). Fund per child `6.6 lakh `3.88 lakh `2.01 lakh `2.14 lakh `2.14 lakh The fund gulf between NGO- and state-run homes is stark as the latter spend just `60,000 per annum per child, including recurring expenses “Regarding funding related matters a random analysis/ exercise was carried out with some of the NGOs audited during social audit in southern India to understand the trend about foreign funding,” the report states. The per child annual spend in governmentrun shelters, including recurring expenses, is just `60,000, the report adds. The exercise came close on the heels of the commission flagging the unusually high number of children in shelter homes in eight states and directing that they be sent back to their “permanent homes”. RBI puts LVB under moratorium, proposes merger with DBS India Se s a Sen @ New Delhi The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday superseded the board of directors of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB), in consultation with the Centre, in view of the serious deterioration in the Chennai-based private bank’s financial position. T N Manoharan, former non-executive chairman of Canara Bank, has been appointed as the administrator. During the 30-day moratorium, the ailing bank cannot make any payment above `25,000 to depositors. However, one can withdraw more for the purposes of medical treatment, education, and marriages with RBI’s permission. Meanwhile, RBI chose a white knight for the cashstarved lender, by suggesting that LVB merge with DBS Bank India, the local unit of Singapore-based DBS Holdings. “DBIL has a healthy balance sheet with strong capital support. Although DBIL is well capitalised, it will bring in additional capital of `2,500 crore upfront, to support credit growth of the merg ed entity,” RBI said. The proposed merger will restore normalcy at the beleaguered bank, which is in desperate need of capital. LVB’s gross non-performing assets (NPA) stood at close to 25% at the end of the second quarter, while net NPA was at a high 7%. For the six-month period ending September, the lender’s net loss was at `594.42 crore against `256.17 crore it recorded in the year-ago period. LVB was in talks with Aion Capital-backed NBFC Clix Capital for a possible merger. A preliminary non-binding letter of intent was also signed between LVB and Clix Capital in June, months after LVB’s proposed deal with IndiaBulls Housing Finance was blocked by the banking regulator. ` Regulator’s observation In absence of any viable strategic plan, declining advances and mounting NPAs, losses are expected to continue. The bank has not been able to raise adequate capital to address issues around its negative net-worth and continuing losses Young innovators Students make gadget to ensure physical distance G R a m e s h B a b u @ Srikakulam Srikakulam Collector J Nivas appreciates the students who created the ‘measuring card’ (inset). It launches an alert if students are near each other Class 9 students of a government residential school here have created light-weight digital ID cards with sensors to ensure physical distancing is practised among the students at the school in view of the Covid-19 outbreak. Duppalavalasa AP Balayogi Gurukulam students Yagati Yaswanth, Peyyala Giri and a few others created the device — with an LCD display, battery, buzzer and ultrasonic sensor unit — which they call a ‘measuring card’. A red light and buzzer on the card gets turned on if students at the school are less than 6 ft away from each other. The students made the device with the support of school technical trainer Shiva Santosh Kumar, using material from the institute’s Atal Tinkering lab. “It costs `200 to make each card. We are trying to reduce the manufacturing cost by adopting advanced technology , and also plan to reduce the size of the card,” Kumar told The New Indian Express. District Collector J Nivas appreciated the work of the students when they met him at the Collectorate. District Balayogir Gurukulas coordinator Y Yasodha Laxmi, principal Devendra Rao, and superintendent Chandrayya joined the students to meet the Collector. Boost for farmers CM Jagan Mohan Reddy releases interest subsidy for Kharif 2019 crop loans under the YSR Sunna Vaddi Panta Runalu Scheme in Tadepalli on Tuesday | Express express read GHMC elections on Dec 1, results three days later Hyderabad: Voting for the 150 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) divisions will be held on December 1, and the results will be out on December 4, according to a notification issued by the Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC) on Tuesday. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force | P5